Sacramento doctor appears in court via video call while performing surgery

A Sacramento surgeon who made a court appearance for part of a traffic trial via Zoom while dressed in scrubs from an operating room is now the subject of a medical board investigation, officials said.

Dr. Scott Green appeared Thursday for his Sacramento County Superior Court trial, held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, from an operating room. He was dressed in surgical scrubs with a patient undergoing the procedure just out of view, according to a report from the Sacramento Bee; the beeps of medical machinery can be heard in the background.

“Hello, Mr. Green? Hi. Are you available for trial?” asked a courtroom clerk. “It kind of looks like you’re in an operating room right now?”

“I am, sir,” Green replied. “Yes, I’m in an operating room right now. Yes, I’m available for trial. Go right ahead.”

The clerk reminded Green the proceedings were being livestreamed because traffic trials are required by law to be open to the public, and Green said he understood. He appeared to continue working with his head down while waiting for Court Commissioner Gary Link to enter the chamber.

When Link appeared and saw the doctor on the screen, the judge hesitated to proceed with the trial out of concern for the welfare of the patient.

“I have another surgeon right here who’s doing the surgery with me, so I can stand here and allow them to do the surgery also,” Green said.

The judge said he didn’t think it was appropriate to conduct the trial under the circumstances. He told Green he’d rather set a new date for trial “when you’re not actively involved or participating and attending to the needs of a patient.”

Green apologized.

“Sometimes, surgery doesn’t always go as...,” he said before the judge interrupted him.

“It happens. We want to keep people healthy, we want to keep them alive. That’s important,” Link said.

The board said it would look into the incident, saying it “expects physicians to follow the standard of care when treating their patients.”

A call seeking comment from Green was not returned.